Lensbaby Velvet 85

Very well made ; Unique glow at wide apertures ; 2:1 macro mode ; 12-bladed aperture ; Available in many different mounts

Photos are too soft at f/1.8 ; No autofocus, autoexposure ; No EXIF metadata

We like the Velvet 85. Like any Lensbaby product, it may be of limited appeal, but it expands on a classic portrait focal length with both a new look and new features. We don’t imagine too many people will shoot it at f/1.8 — it’s just so soft — but we...

The Lensbaby Velvet 85 is well constructed with a strongly damped, precise focus ring, and it produces lovely, soft out-of-focus areas with round highlights.

You have to rotate the focus ring a long way to get from infinity to macro, and you need to like focusing manually.

Another winning lens from Lensbaby, the Velvet 85 is a pleasure to use and a great option when you want seriously smooth bokeh and a little in-camera pop for portrait, macro and street photography.

The Lensbaby Velvet 85 is well constructed with a strongly damped, precise focus ring, and it produces lovely, soft out-of-focus areas with round highlights.

You have to rotate the focus ring a long way to get from infinity to macro, and you need to like focusing manually.

Another winning lens from Lensbaby, the Velvet 85 is a pleasure to use and a great option when you want seriously smooth bokeh and a little in-camera pop for portrait, macro and street photography.